What are these little little balls inside this hen? -Graphic Pics-

[Gingerbeer]

we're pitching it all. Blizzard today, not a good time to go hit the E.R.

 

[happyhensny]

Bummer.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Quote:
I think that would be the safest.,. It does NOT look properly bled out to me.. And you should not be seeing those pre-eggs in there. I defintly would not buy from him again.. Looks like he just killed and plucked and that was it..

 

[petrelline]

That horrible butchering job makes me sad and angry. Poor thing. Even old hens deserve a better end than that.

 

[dancingbear]

It looks like he just left in the ovaries, (yes, those are undeveloped eggs) people in some cultures routinely eat both ovaries and the undeveloped eggs. That may be why he left them in, he may have a lot of regular customers that want them, or perhaps he is from one of the cultures that use them. The blood could have just been what oozed from the ovaries after processing. The meat itself didn't look bloody, from what I could tell from the photo.

I wouldn't think it was unsafe, just unsightly to those not accustomed to it. The blood won't really hurt anything, but it can affect how long it will keep. If you didn't want the ovaries, you could have just removed them, and rinsed the bird. Brining would remove excess blood, and keep the meat moist when cooked.

You asked if it would be safe to eat the broth anyway, IMO, yes it would, but why not the meat too? If you cook it in the crock pot until the meat starts to fall off the bones, there's no reason at all not to eat the meat, in fact it's very good.

Anyway, I'm sorry you threw it out, I think you probably wasted a perfectly good chicken. I would not jump to the conclusion that the guy is a bad processor, or unsanitary. If you see him again, you might ask him about it, diplomatically of course. Tell him you've never seen the ovaries included before, and wondered why he left it in. You might not want to tell him you threw it away.

I once had a lady at work buy a dozen of my eggs, later tell me they were bad and she threw them out, because the yolks were orange. I had to explain to her that they were supposed to be orange, but meanwhile she'd told people that the eggs were bad.

She should have been throwing away the supermarket eggs.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Those are "baby" egg yolks.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Well, it wouldn't have killed you and it would have been ok to eat but by pitching it, you only were doing what you thought was right. Personally if I had to question it, I would have thrown it out too. What looks like happened was he cut off the head or cut the trachea when killing. You can tell buy the color of the lungs.... which he left in there as well, which makes me think he just didn't know what he was doing or didn't really care. Another clue to how he killed it is the amount of blood in the cavity which the only way for that much to be in there is for blood to get sucked in when breathing.... filling up in the lungs and then going into the cavity. Honestly, the bird didn't get killed properly (for selling to customers), didn't get rinsed properly, didn't get eviscerated properly, so all in all you did fine by tossing it.

That is why it's so important when selling chickens to customers to properly kill the chicken by cutting the arteries in the neck.... and not by cutting the head off.

Now the eggs, are usually left in for certain customers.... I agree with Jen... they are highly prized by many cultures. But he should have warned you, if he was any kind of salesman.... That's the last thing you want is a customer throwing away a chicken because of undeveloped eggs. Which is perfectly normal for soup chickens, but you have to educate your consumer if you choose to leave these in the cavity.

Personally when I sell soup chickens the neck, cleaned feet and gizzard, heart, and livers are all included with the chicken for stock. People get so freaked out about the feet but after I educate them on how much the benefit the overall stock they are all for it. If I would include the feet and not tell people... I would have a lot of chickens tossed out!

Next time, I would opt to visit his farm. You can tell right away if this is a place you would ever want to buy chicken from again. There are a lot of people out there that raise chickens for meat, like anything else... you do sometimes get sour apples that ruin it for everyone. But I agree with Jen, talk to the guy... tell him that the bird was full of blood and the eggs and lungs were left in. Tell him what you prefer and that you would prefer to pick it up at his farm... then make your choice.

Sorry you had to throw it away!

 

[journey11]

Looks like he got out the intestines, which is the important thing...that and the bile sac on the liver. Busted intestines WILL definitely up the risk of salmonella. The bile sac gives off a bitter flavor and you don't want it burst either. The other organs won't hurt anything. The heart, liver and gizzard are edible and make wonderful gravy. They should be saved and put in a baggie and stuffed back into the cavity. I agree that it appears that the ovaries were left behind, with a few mini egg yolks inside. They are tightly attached to the inside of the backbone area (as are the kidneys) and wouldn't come out with the other organs, which come out pretty much all together. He probably just overlooked them. You would want to remove them prior to stewing.

There really shouldn't be all that blood in there though. A properly butchered bird will have been bled out and there will be next to no blood at all, even in the organs. He probably just chopped the head off, which is ok, but doesn't allow the bird to fully bleed out and that would be typical to find blood in the organs like that. The blood can be rinsed off and otherwise the bird would have been edible if cooked well (over 180 degrees).

No doubt you have lost your appetite for chicken after looking at that mess though.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

I couldnt of and wouldnt of eaten that hen, gross

here is an old saying that I stand by

"When in doubt, toss it out."

 

[Gingerbeer]

Thanks everyone. it wasn't the eggs that "bothered" me so much (i was more just curious about them) as the general "hatchet-job" look of the bird's interior. I did include the feet in the stock-- i know enough to prize those!-- but the bloody cavity just didn't sit well in my mind. It really looked like someone just stuck a knife up there and slashed it around!

My instinct is that he's typically just an egg seller, not a meat-chicken man, and so didn't really know what he was doing. I get my eggs from someone else, a provider with a backyard flock i know and trust , so i'll probably just avoid this guy in the future. He didn't speak much english so i don't see approaching him about it (my other languages are...not so good).

Ahh, well.